We love our exploration games, and Corpse Party BLOOD DRIVE (from 5pb) is one we’ve been keeping an eye on.

It’s been two months since the “Book of Shadows” incident — for those keeping tabs on the storyline, this refers to the events Corpse Party Book of Shadows. Now, the player takes on the persona of our heroine, who has to return to a world with a familiar faces completely erased erased.

The visuals are an interesting blend: on the one hand, we get the anime characterizations and cutscenes that make it easy to delve into the game; on the other hand, the panicked splotches of blood (along with screamy outbursts) do make for an eerie counterbalance. Visually, it comes across as a horror experience that isn’t overly horrific at first.

The game controls translate well; it’s easy to figure out illumination and how to run. The game fits in pointers through the lengthy intro, so that when the action really starts, it’s easy to feel comfortable with the game mechanics.

And lengthy the intro is. Wow. I caught myself wishing I could fast forward through the bulk of it. It does well to frame the action, but there is a lot of dead space.

The main action boils down to a lot of point and click action. The narrative is compelling, with plenty of apprehensive turns. The game does demand a bit of patience, and with this type pf game, that is perfectly okay.

It’s a great concept, but the connecting dialogue feels convoluted in parts; it is tough to pay attention to the side content while seemingly looking to move on in the game. The black scenes are great, but again, I feel a bit of moderation is what would make them resonate.

When it finally gets going, it does manage to keep one’s digits going, but the in-between grate on the nerves more than a bit. In the end, that’s what matters.

It all starts out with a cryptic letter from Uncle Henry, letting the player know that after studying the map that he (the player) found; Uncle Henry’s recommended course of action is to go on and find the pirates hidden treasure both suspect the map points to.

With this modest beginning, our adventure is launched, and one gets to be immersed in the digital caper known as The Lost Treasure.

Right from the onset, the game is fairly easy to navigate. It uses still images to advance the gameplay, and the imagery does reflect the jungle environment one expects from the opening letter. The perspective is first person, and to move around, one simply touches the screen intuitively in the rough direction one wants to go; in this way, one can move from scene to scene, or get a closer look at an area within the scene. Thus, this also how ones investigates objects, which makes up a pretty big part of the game.

So, exploration is the name of the game. The basic idea is to collect items and figure out puzzles, and then progress. The puzzles are interesting enough, but not too juvenile; one might have to collect a key, or solve a puzzle, or open up an object to collect another object that is utilized by doubling back along the path already traveled.

The creativity injected into the flow of the game is what makes the whole thing fun. One is able to use hints when needed, and the elements are not so fantastic as to be silly. Vivid graphics are engaging but not too distracting, and the self-contained nature are to be lauded.

For a simple diversion that works well on the go, it’s pretty easy to fall in love with The Lost Treasure. It feels like a short ride, but pleasantly so.

The game comes in two parts; an introductory, completely free Part 1 and further immersive, premium-priced Part 2.

From the press release:

AR-K comes to mobile platforms to create a classic adventure game experience that can be played on the go or on the couch. The gameâ€™s sleek 3D graphics pair with familiar point-and-click 2D navigation for a 2.5D experience that adventure fans can quickly pick up and play. The core appeal of AR-K lies in its attention-grabbing writing and challenging puzzles that create an intriguing world of mystery, humor, and suspense. The gameâ€™s story and dialog have been re-vamped by noted comic book writer Greg Rucka, gameplay puzzles have been refined with optional highlights to help identify important objects, and the gameâ€™s graphics have been optimized to shine on todayâ€™s high-powered mobile devices.

â€œAR-K brings classic adventure gaming to iOS and Android with mystery, humor, and romanceâ€”all wrapped in a modern 3D graphical presentation,â€ said Fernando Prieto, Managing Director of Gato Salvaje. â€œWe have dedicated ourselves to create a compelling episodic adventure for fans of the genre to enjoy!â€

In AR-K, players take on the role of former cop turned journalist Alicia as she struggles to solve the mystery of why she was framed for a theft, what happened in a hazy one-night stand with a mysterious stranger, and what is the secret of the powerful and unearthly Golden Sphere that has appeared in her life. All characters are fully voiced and Alicia is brought to life through the voice talents of Ash Sroka, widely known for her role as Tali Zorah in the Mass Effect Trilogy.

AR-Kâ€™s episodic story will be told over four chapters, with the remaining two chapters scheduled to arrive in 2015. Although each chapter builds upon the previous events, they can also be enjoyed individually as complete adventures with approximately four hours of gameplay each.

As noted, AR-K I is completely free, and AR-K II is priced at $2.99. Both are available on the Play Store.

A few days ago Bulkypix announced that a new game known as Corto Maltese: Secrets of Venice will hit Android on December 11th.

This marks the first time that a character by the well known comic writer Hugo Pratt has featured in a any video game and it looks to be an old school point and clicker, a rather uncommon genre on the platform.

The plot seems to be a pretty Film Noir like tale. The central character has been poisoned by unknowns forces and he now must embark on a journey to find a cure for himself as well as the pieces of a mysterious artifact known as the Clavicule of Solomon that fits into the story as well.

Corto looks very striking and is said to pay homage to Hugo’s style. It certainly nails its comic bonk roots.

While details are light on Corto Maltese the game as said lands tomorrow and you can rely on Android Rundown to feature a review of this promising new tale.

Some games are meant to be. Yeah, we try waiting, but in the case of the award-winning Botanicula, we want it NOW.

The wait is over; Botanicula is here, boys and girls.

First, it is a work of art. The graphics are wistful, and the characters feel zany without being overly foolish. The backgrounds are a feast of pastels, and the floating elements come together quite nicely. The animations are smooth, and transitions almost smoother.

The gameplay rests somewhat in the backstory. The five protagonists are tree creatures: Poppyhead, Lantern, Twig, Mushroom and Feather; these creatures are on a mission to thwart the evil parasites that have attacked their home tree, and to save the last seed from the free from being destroyed. Each of the characters has an attribute or two that sets it apart and makes it an important resources when it comes to accomplishing a particular task. They travel together, and take on the challenges head on.

From this story of conservation, we get a popping adventure.

Navigation is in the form of following arrows and tapping in the general direction one wants to go. The opening sequence throws one right into the game, it also gives insight into the different actions that can be taken. For example, trying to get past some enemy creatures is quite the funny exercise, and takes a couple tries to figure out which of the protagonists plants can be used to get the task done.

The game progresses from there, getting more complex as the levels go one, and I like how the developer looks to keep aspects fairly intuitive as the game continues.

Botanicula is one of those games that feels better the more it’s played. it’s an endearing game with a conscience, making one think of the planet formally and otherwise. The upfront pricing is something else to enjoy as well.

Zojoi and publisher Reverb Triple XP have announced that Shadowgate, a “re-imagining” of the 1987 point-and-click adventure game, is coming later this year to a variety of platforms including Android. While the production values will be 21st century, expect point-and-click adventuring as it was in its 20th century heyday. New and updated puzzles, soundtracks from both Rich Douglas (providing a new version) and Hiroyuki Masuno (from the NES version), and more features will be part of the final product, planned for release this summer.

The portrayal of people in media has been a hot topic as of late, especially with egregious misrepresentations of any protected classes in anything from TV to games to advertisements. One would think with this being a hot topic that a game which pretty much paints every single character in the worst stereotypical light possible, should be going through the ringer. However, youâ€™d be dead wrong.

Trailer Park King, originally enjoying success as a XBLIG title some time back, is one of those games at first glance that looks like a dud. This title involves the story of the most stereotypical â€œwhite trashâ€ redneck who is framed for murder after a date gone bad. Throughout the trials and tribulations of the protagonist named King, you will run into a myriad of scantily clad women, sexual innuendos and more stereotypes than you can imagine. With all that in mind, this point and click title is sure to anger a few people.

Be as it may, Trailer Park King itself is an entertaining and well done puzzle adventure title. While one could easily label this a sexist title, no actual sex happens within the game. Instead, a path of puzzles in order to clear your main character for a murder he was framed for are laced within the threads of the noticeable cleavage and portrayal of dumb yokels. The controls are fairly simple, being that itâ€™s a point and click adventure title as well, with almost every game control involving a tap of the controller. The sleuthing, however, is still up to the player.

Anyone who remembers Al Lowe games from the 90s such as Leisure Suit Larry or Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist, will appreciate the immature, toilet-bowl humor that Trailer Park King uses. Itâ€™s the thing that is either the selling point or the turn off for this title, depending on which camp you subscribe to. If you enjoy adult humor, and can take a joke, no matter who you are, youâ€™ll get a kick out of the humor and atmosphere of this title.

There will be a ring of controversy surrounding this title, regarding its treatment of women, or painting those who reside in trailer parks as dumb hillbillies. But itâ€™d be a dull world if everyone had the same sense of humor. Trailer Park King doesnâ€™t do any one thing particularly amazing, but what it does do is give people an opportunity to smile like an immature 14 year old, no matter their actual physical age, while also using their head to solve puzzles. Itâ€™s nothing worse than what you see in games such as Grand Theft Auto, and something a lot more tame than most movies people go to nowadays. A throwback to the days when PC was king, Trailer Park King is a point and click adventure thatâ€™s both fun and crude all in one.

Boy, this is going to be a tough one. The thing is, Pilot Brothers are a slightly schizophrenic detective duo that comes from Russia. As with all things from Russia, it’s impossible to understand whatever is going on in there, from any point of logic. We can only try and get some background. The studio that made original cartoon, which this game is based on, was the first non-governmental animation studio in USSR, and it shows. The studio was making wild, bizarre, and completely out of this world projects, trying to break the decades of straight party-approved lines of animation. Pilot Brothers were actually among the less insane projects, but they still are pretty out there for unprepared viewer. Instead of a straight story and understandable motives, Pilot Brothers feature crazy scenery, interesting, but also quite insane animation, and lots and lots of parodies on post-soviet era. Thus, it’s quite understandable if some people will think of this game as a very strange one â€“ but if it’s not going to deter you from playing this game, you’ll definitely come to enjoy its randomness and almost complete lack of logic â€“ it’s still a great classic adventure, not unlike Sam and Max.

Pilot Brothers 2 features two titular brothers, who look somewhat similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but behave a bit closer to two mental asylum runaways. Their favorite cat Arsenic just got kidnapped, and they need to look for him, using all the classic detective skills, like capturing a mouse, using erotic mouse magazine, or finding beer for a drunken guard. The game is a standard point-and-click adventure game, where the player needs to find the required items first, and try to solve some problem with them, later. Pilot Brothers aren’t shy on the craziness, and the logic behind some of the challenges can bring a grown man to tears, but the game is worth the frustration. Animation is very creative, and the game is quite funny â€“ not to say different to the usual adventures. Although Pilot Brothers 2 is a bit short for $2.99, it’s still a great game. Recommended for fans of unusual adventures.

The legendary spooky point and click adventure game Gabriel Knight: Sins of The Fathers returns to celebrate its 20th anniversary, by re-releasing as a graphically and sonically updated version, sometime in 2014, at the hands of the game’s original creator, Jane Jensen.

Here’s a couple of screen shots of the updated version for your viewing pleasure:

The Silent Age is a point and click puzzle thriller that encourages interaction.

It chronicles the ad hoc adventures of Joe, a somewhat, uh, non-enterprising janitor in the building of a huge shadowy conglomerate that stumbles upon an interesting secret.

Using picture stills as a means of conveying the backstory, glimpses of the game come into focus. The ominous words set the ball in motion.

“Mr Hill wants to see you.”

And we’re off.

As far as gameplay goes, Silent Age defaults to an overall principle of simplicity. Tapping objects on the screen causes a white circle to surround it, and a box with text dialogue or pointers appears at the very top of the playing area. Most objects can be interacted with; sometimes, the information may be important. The key is that there is a lot of it, and the player has to figure it out.

The game engine uses logic well. To illustrate this, a look at the opening scene is invaluable. After an initial work summons, the protagonist has to be led to an elevator in a well secured building. He needs a piece of equipment to acknowledge this, and to find that object, it is fun to figure out where said object is (his thought process and job function help) and retrieve it. But even when we get there, there is puzzle that needs to be solved with objects in that specific area. In other words, the sequences flowed decently together within the context of the gameplay.

The graphics aren’t overpowering, but they do work well within the confines of the game. They great use of color and shadowing make up for any perceived issue with animations.

For a simple game that doesn’t spoon feed, this game is an excellent choice, either as simple time killer or an engrossing mystery. The choice is open.

Kaptain Brawe is a fun adventure game that is set in a futuristic universe where interplanetary travel is the norm, and not just a dream. It is the port of the popular PC game of the same name. It goes to show that point and click titles can still create mindshare.

The storyline is not to difficult to grasp: conspiracies and space pirates abound, and its up to the comically inept Kaptain and crew to, well, save us all.

The game came in two modes: hardcore, which ran with no hints, and casual, which had more dialogue. There were three different characters to use, and several “worlds” to explore.

Finding stuff via point and click (touch and tap) was my main objective; I did a lot of walking around, interacting with objects and characters, and also collecting useful stuff into my inventory. In talking to other characters, I sometimes got to exchange materials with said characters. I liked that attribute.

Also, it wasn’t as easy as just talking to a character and getting info; sometimes, I had to interact with a character, do a particular task or two and then come back to that character to get additional information that wasn’t initially available without the newly procured item. Such game engine decisions made the game a bit more realistic in my opinion.

Graphically, the game will be a sweet reminder to folks who got hands on the PC port. The zany use of colors and the cartoony characters fit perfectly with the latent humor of the game dialogue and the whimsical nature of the plot lines.

All in all, Kaptain Brawe was a faithful rendition of the original, and even without its pedigree, I think it was a fun standalone. The free intro was cool, and I think a lot of folks will be tempted to get the full version via in-game purchase.

Magician’s Handbook 2 is a hidden item sequel to Magician’s Handbook from G5 Entertainment. Chronologically occurring two years after the original, it keeps a lot of the elements that made the original so addictive. It brought updated scenes, similar gameplay and a tight storyline to the gaming table.

In this iteration, evil sea pirate Blacklore figures to p corral good practitioners of magic so as to use their powers for nefarious purposes, and I had to use whatever I had at my disposal to stop him. Magic played an integral role in my adventures.

I really liked the graphics, which were handcrafted masterpieces. They gave the game a sense of persona that made it feel more authentic. The color overlay was done almost too well; it was quite rich, with hues bursting at the seams. The game boasted 16 unique locations, so there was plenty of visual scenes to enjoy along the way.

The gameplay revolved around ultimately defeat the enemy by solving puzzles in the mini-games. As noted, it takes place after the original, and a little being summoned my help to free friends. This boiled down to mostly finding objects, and finding the difference in similar motifs. There were 21 mini-games, so there were a good amount of different stuff to get into as I progressed. I liked that the developer included three levels of difficulty, and I found a keen eye was probably the most needed skill to successfully traverse the game, and I thought the developer did a good job of hiding objects, and providing some fun ways to uncover them. For example, wind with grass (hint, hint) was creatively entertaining. All in all, the puzzles worked well within the style and story of the game.

For a refresh, I found this game to be quite entertaining. It was a colorful (literally) break from the norm, and the varied missions make it worth a try.